400 protest Oi nuke reactor restarts at prime minister's office

Protesters rallied outside the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo to oppose a decision to reactivate two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

Organizers said about 400 people participated in the June 16 rally, which was held to coincide with a meeting of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa at Noda's office.

During the meeting, Nishikawa gave his formal consent to reactivating the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of the Oi nuclear plant. They will be the first nuclear reactors to be brought back online since the Great East Japan Earthquake set off the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March last year.

The protesters carried placards and banners that called for the planned restarts to be canceled.

"It is wrong to bring (the reactors) back online when so many questions remain about sufficient safety measures," one of them said.

The demonstrators handed a Cabinet Office employee a letter calling for Noda to retract the decision.

Demonstrators gather in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 16 to protest a decision to restart idle reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant. (Sayaka Yamaguchi)

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